Umphrey Looking Beyond OSS Season

Published: September 18, 2011 06:12 pm EDT

Ontario’s talented three-year-old pacing fillies will battle in their second last Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final at Mohawk Racetrack on Tuesday, and trainer Travis Umphrey will be coasting into the Campbellville facility on a

wave of gratitude.

His Monkey On My Wheel has been nothing short of outstanding in the last eight weeks, and the Guelph, Ont. resident is just happy things have worked out for the daughter of Mach Three and Legislation.

“I guess we’re getting to the time of year when if you are still going strong that’s a good thing,” says Umphrey. “She’s been really good the last few months and I couldn’t be happier with her."

With just nine fillies declaring into last week’s Gold elimination, Monkey On My Wheel and her peers advanced straight to Tuesday’s final, which will go for an inflated $170,000. The filly heads into her 13th sophomore start off a runner-up finish in the Simcoe Stakes at Mohawk on Sept. 5, an impressive effort off a tough trip up the outside.

“Going right to the final has been a big help at this stage in the year,” notes Umphrey, who shares ownership of the filly with breeder Mac Nichol of Burlington, Ont.

“She had a pretty tough trip in her last race, they got going some crazy fractions,” he adds. “We’re fortunate in that she came out of it well and we’re fortunate that she hasn’t had to go too many trips like that this year.”

Umphrey says a big part of the filly’s on-going well being can be attributed to the outstanding care she gets from Gary Bishop and Terri McNair, who attend to Monkey On My Wheel’s day-to-day and race night needs.

“They don’t get enough credit, the caretakers of these horses,” emphasizes Umphrey. “They live, sleep and die with these horses, and that goes a long way toward success on the racetrack.”

The trainer notes that the other factor contributing to Monkey On My Wheel’s success is World Driving Champion Jody Jamieson, who will steer the filly from Post 4 in Tuesday’s eighth race.

Following Tuesday’s Gold Final skirmish, there is just one Gold Series event remaining on the sophomore pacing filly calendar before the Nov. 12 Super Final. Based on Monkey On My Wheel’s result in the Simcoe Stake, Umphrey says the filly will get one more shot at North America’s best as long as she remains happy and healthy.

“The way she showed in the Simcoe, we feel she has a legitimate shot, if she’s on her game, against the top fillies in the Breeders Crown [Oct. 22 and 29],” Umphrey explains. “And it works out well that it’s at Woodbine, it really fits into her schedule.”

Although the end of the season is drawing into view, Umphrey notes that the filly’s training schedule has not been altered, and that a little extra time in the paddock every day seems to be helping the winner of $571,208 maintain her weight and her well being.

The reigning Gold Final champion will put her title on the line in the eighth race on Tuesday, with Mohawk Racetrack’s first race rolling in behind the starting gate at 7:10 p.m.

To view Tuesday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Tuesday Entries - Georgian Downs.

(OSS)

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